The Seminary at Strawberry appears in an undated Google Maps aerial view. A majority of the 127-acre property off Seminary Drive in unincorporated Marin County would be redeveloped as housing, including a new senior residential care facility, up to 100 independent living units, 50 assisted living and memory care apartments, along with 337 single- and multi-family homes. (Google image)
The proposed redevelopment of the former Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Strawberry has entered the final stages of environmental review, marking a major step forward for what would be Marin County’s largest private development project in years.
The 127-acre property off Seminary Drive, now owned by North Coast Land Holdings LLC, has been under consideration since the seminary relocated to Southern California in 2015. The final environmental impact report is available for public review and comment through Jan. 26, according to an announcement by the Marin County Community Development Agency on Monday.
Plans for the site include a new senior residential care facility with up to 100 independent living units and 50 assisted living and memory-care apartments, along with 337 single- and multi-family homes, that will replace a majority of the existing homes. Seventy units would be designated as below-market-rate housing.
The July 2024 proposed site plan for the 127-acre property off Seminary Drive, in Strawberry, in unincorporated Marin County, owned by North Coast Land Holdings LLC. The proposed development includes a new senior residential care facility, up to 100 independent living units, 50 assisted living and memory care apartments, along with 337 single- and multi-family homes that will replace a majority of the existing homes. (County of Marin via Bay City News)
Approximately 70% of the site would remain open space, featuring trails, playing fields, playgrounds, and other recreational amenities. The proposal also includes a publicly accessible daycare and fitness center.
The final EIR responds to roughly 160 public comment letters and oral testimony addressing issues such as land use, traffic, greenhouse gas emissions and construction noise. While the draft EIR identified significant and unavoidable impacts, the final EIR found no additional impacts and did not substantially alter those conclusions.
Due to the site’s zoning, the development does not qualify for permit streamlining and must undergo state environmental review and local discretionary permitting.
Marin County Community Development Agency staff are expected to bring recommendations to the Planning Commission in March, which will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors in late spring.
Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.
Public comment opens on Marin County’s largest housing development project in years
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The proposed redevelopment of the former Golden Gate Theological Seminary in Strawberry has entered the final stages of environmental review, marking a major step forward for what would be Marin County’s largest private development project in years.
The 127-acre property off Seminary Drive, now owned by North Coast Land Holdings LLC, has been under consideration since the seminary relocated to Southern California in 2015. The final environmental impact report is available for public review and comment through Jan. 26, according to an announcement by the Marin County Community Development Agency on Monday.
Plans for the site include a new senior residential care facility with up to 100 independent living units and 50 assisted living and memory-care apartments, along with 337 single- and multi-family homes, that will replace a majority of the existing homes. Seventy units would be designated as below-market-rate housing.
The July 2024 proposed site plan for the 127-acre property off Seminary Drive, in Strawberry, in unincorporated Marin County, owned by North Coast Land Holdings LLC. The proposed development includes a new senior residential care facility, up to 100 independent living units, 50 assisted living and memory care apartments, along with 337 single- and multi-family homes that will replace a majority of the existing homes. (County of Marin via Bay City News)
Approximately 70% of the site would remain open space, featuring trails, playing fields, playgrounds, and other recreational amenities. The proposal also includes a publicly accessible daycare and fitness center.
The final EIR responds to roughly 160 public comment letters and oral testimony addressing issues such as land use, traffic, greenhouse gas emissions and construction noise. While the draft EIR identified significant and unavoidable impacts, the final EIR found no additional impacts and did not substantially alter those conclusions.
Due to the site’s zoning, the development does not qualify for permit streamlining and must undergo state environmental review and local discretionary permitting.
Marin County Community Development Agency staff are expected to bring recommendations to the Planning Commission in March, which will make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors in late spring.
The environmental impact report can be viewed on the county’s website.
Ruth Dusseault, Bay City News
Ruth Dusseault is an investigative reporter and multimedia journalist focused on environment and energy. Her position is supported by the California local news fellowship, a statewide initiative spearheaded by UC Berkeley aimed at supporting local news platforms. While a student at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism (c’23), Ruth developed stories about the social and environmental circumstances of contaminated watersheds around the Great Lakes, Mississippi River and Florida’s Lake Okeechobee. Her thesis explored rights of nature laws in small rural communities. She is a former assistant professor and artist in residence at Georgia Tech’s School of Architecture, and uses photography, film and digital storytelling to report on the engineered systems that undergird modern life.
More by Ruth Dusseault, Bay City News